MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust company of Megaworld Corp., said Friday it expects to book P1.43 billion in rental income in the second half of the year, up 5.1 percent from P1.36 billion it posted in the first half.
MREIT chief finance officer Englebert Teh said during the recent investors’ conference conducted by the Philippine Stock Exchange rental escalations and new tenants would push rental income higher in the second half.
The higher rental income would translate into second-half dividend payout of P0.49 to P0.50 per share, up from P0.49 per share in the first half.
Teh said MREIT was expected to sustain 96-percent to 100-percent occupancy rate as office market reached “inflection point” with 26,000 square meters net take up in the first quarter, compared to 130,000 sq. m. contraction in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Teh said MREIT was poised meet its target of 500,000 sq. m. of office leasing portfolio by 2023 and 1 million sq. m. by 2030.
“Our sponsor’s [Megaworld] current inventory alone is sufficient to fuel this growth plan,” Teh said.
He said Megaworld aimed to have 2 million sq. m of gross leasable area by 2030, up from 1.4 million sq. m. today.
“Our office inventory is enough to satisfy the ambitious roadmap,” Teh said.
MREIT announced in April the acquisition of four prime properties worth P5.3 billion. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Once completed, MREIT will expand its GLA by 16 percent to 325,000 sq. m. covering 18 office properties in four Megaworld townships.